The Geographic Mobility of Dual-Career Families: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

This research investigates the inter-relationships between dual careers and long distance family migration from 1970 to 2000. The increase in families with two careers both encourages family migration (because two people are exposed to career opportunities) and discourages migration (because of the constraints on the spouse when one partner has an opportunity). Research with the Current Population Survey will investigate to what extent changes in overall family mobility can be explained by the growth in dual career families. Other analyses with the Panel Study of Income Dynamics will estimate how characteristics of the spouses' occupations and of the local labor market influence family migration decisions. Those analyses will be extended to investigate gender differences in the consequences of family migration (or lack of migration). It is generally believed that women's careers benefit least from family migration, but that may be changing as couples make migration decisions to accommodate both careers.